Out of the Woods
by TroubleMaker1397
Summary: On D-Day, One Easy company soldier stumbles upon something unexpected in the French woodland. A story about unfortunate family, lies and love in the middle of World War Two. OC X Liebgott.
1. Prologue

**Out of the woods**

 **Prologue**

 _Normandy, France, 6th June 1944_

This is it. This is how I'm going to die. I look down the barrel of two German rifles and pray to god that they kill me instead of dragging me back to Germany to suffer punishment for being a traitor. I didn't want to go back and I especially didn't want to face my Uncle. I take a deep breath as my mind buzzes with all the scenarios I'm building in my head of what is to come.

 _"This is the girl we have been looking for."_ One of the German Soldiers said with glee and an ugly leer.

The other soldier looked back and forth between the photo in his hand and my face before a giant smirk appeared on his face upon the realisation that the first soldier was right.

 _"Yes it is, you're a pretty little thing aren't you?"_ The smirking soldier asked in a husky voice.

The look in his eyes sent a shiver run down my spine of what they could do to me before reporting me to their superiors.

 _"If you even think about touching me, my uncle will have your heads."_ I squared my shoulders and replied with as much courage as I could muster while still having a rifle trained on my form.

 _"No, my dear, I'm afraid your Uncle will have your head for being a disgusting traitor to the fatherland!"_ The smirking soldier replied with a scowl on his defined face, and to bring his point home, he spat on the floor by my feet where I consequently flinched, unintentionally.

The other soldier was just about to open his mouth to say something else when a nearby anti-aircraft gun opened up, setting the sky on fire with its flak. The German soldiers shrugged it off as a bombing raid and one of them grabbed my arm to pull me to what I recognised as an air raid shelter, to most likely wait out the raid before reporting me in. However what surprised us both- myself and the two soldiers- was dark shadows falling from the aircraft that was definitely not bombs. It was people. Paratroopers.

I glanced at the two soldiers on my left side and saw them distracted, looking up at the sky in surprise and astonishment, that the Allies could breach Hitler's 'impenetrable' Atlantic wall. I knew that this was my chance. The only chance I would get to run away, and maybe if I'm lucky find the Allie soldiers- I quickly dismissed that thought as they would not help me if they ever found out my surname, they might as well shoot me for my name. Acting on instinct I quickly glance at the two dumbstruck German soldiers before darting in darkness towards the French woodland where the trees could give me some cover. I pray the soldiers don't shoot me in the back as I just reached the edge of the woodland area.

Sudden shouts in German are heard behind me not long after I reached the cover of the trees, and the sounds of footsteps and gunfire in the distance is all I can hear over the loud sound of my heart hammering against my chest in a uneven beat. I start to really panic for the first time since I left Germany- I felt like walls were closing in on me from all sides. I have no one to go to. Nowhere to go to. I'm all alone in this world. No family- that won't kill me as soon as I've been captured. No friends- that won't turn me in and betray our country like I have. My brother killed two years earlier in a Soviet POW camp.

My legs start to slow down in exhaustion despite me willing them to go on- time seems to have slowed down as realisation comes to me that I'm going to die- there is no way out for me anymore. I was lucky being able to get out of Germany in 1942 but it looks to me like my luck is about to run out.

The German voices behind me seem to be catching up and as I turn around to check if I could see them behind me, I trip on a branch and I land face down on the floor- It felt good to lie there and do nothing but there's a voice inside my head shouting and yelling at me to get up, that there is still hope on my survival. I just shake my head, still with my face in the dirt and dismiss the voice in my head as naive to think that I could possibly get out of this situation. However unknown to me are deep brown eyes watching from a nearby bush.

Rough Hands on each shoulder suddenly grab me from behind and turn me over on the ground so I am looking up at the not-so-much-smirking German soldier and the other now non-leering German soldier, they both wore deep scowls on their faces as they attempt to re-catch their breath after running after me.

 _"Stupid Bitch!"_ The first soldier said in an aggravating tone before repeating his earlier action of spitting on the ground by my head and I felt some of the splatter of saliva on my cheek.

I glare at them in disgust, which seems to anger them even more as one of them draws their luger, I see determination in the young Germans eyes and I say to myself in my head that this is it. The end of Emelie Klara Hitler. I look at both soldiers defiantly in the eye as I realise the end is near- there will be no more hurt or suffering and I will unite with my beloved brother again despite our differences. I continue to look at the soldier with the luger in his hand as I wish for him to look me in the eye before taking the shot.

What I didn't expect was for me to see his eyes open in shock before I even heard the continuous shots go of that took both of the German soldiers lives. In astonishment I look at the two dead bodies on either side of me and I don't look up, with my blood smattered face, until I hear footsteps coming towards me from my left.

I look to my left and my ice blue eyes meet chocolate brown ones.

 **The title of this story is based on Taylor Swifts song "Out of the woods" as I thought it fitted the prologue of the story and the lyrics really match up to what's happening in the beginning of the story. I don't have an exact date or time for me to update on but hopefully it will be quite regular and you all will have to bear with me.**

 **Emelie is a fictional character that I have made up and does not resemble a real life person however all the family mentioned in later chapters are real.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not have ownership of any recognizable characters. This is a historical fiction meant to honor the men portrayed.**

 **Most of my information related to Easy company is coming from the HBO series and the book by Stephen Ambrose, I haven't got round to reading any of the memoirs yet. Information to do with the Hitler family comes from Wikipedia and several documentaries I've seen.**

 **I hope you have enjoyed reading the start of this story :)**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

 _Normandy, France, 6th June 1944_

" Err.. Bonjour Mademoiselle" the American soldier said to me in a hesitant, husky voice. It soothed me in a unusual way, I could hardly make out the man's features through the darkness aside from his brown eyes and defined jaw. His forehead creased in frustration as he no doubt was trying to remember more French words in an attempt to communicate with me. He curses in the dark as I continue to look at him- still in shock and fear of my new situation. The soldier mumbles under his breath about a doc roe? and French lessons. The pause from the soldier allowed my brain to catch up to my present situation.

" Sorry to disappoint you soldier, but I am not French." I said while attempting to push my accent out of the familiar English words. The soldier continued to look at me in mild surprise, I sigh before attempting to lift myself off from the ground, this snapped the soldier into action as he offered a hand to help me. I accepted the hand in suspicion as the soldier continued to look me up and down. Fear starts to creep up to me again as I realise I'm alone in the forest with an unknown man. I discreetly grabbed the discarded luger from the ground with my other hand and hid it behind my back in the folds of my flowy skirt before attaching it to a empty thigh holster while passing it off to the American as checking my torn stockings, where he respectively looked in the opposite direction.

"Are you alright?" he asks with concern in his voice as his hand gestures to the blood splatter on my dress barely visible in the darkness and he moves his hand to wipe some blood off my cheek but I flinch away from him with a scowl.

"I'm fine and I'd appreciate it if you kept your hands to yourself!" I replied shortly with a glare as I dusted off the dirt from the ground in vain as my dress is already ruined with blood stains. The American holds his hands up in mock surrender, this causes me to narrow my eyes at him.

"Okay lady, I have a job to do and right now I'm running out of time, with no clue where the heck I am," The soldier says while checking the watch on his arm.

"I'd appreciate it if you could tell me and then point me in the right direction." he continued in a whisper.

"First of all my name isn't lady and second of all, I'm not French so no I cannot point you in the right direction!" I exclaimed as harshly and quietly as I could but I forgot to hide my accent under the English words.

His eyes widened some in shock that I would talk back to him and because of the recognisable accent.

"You German?" He asked looking suspiciously at me and his mouth formed into a frown in the partial darkness.

" No I'm not," I retorted with a roll of my eyes as I gather my surroundings and look for any familiarity or sign of where I am. I find none and huff in frustration. I hear a sigh and turn around to face the aggravating American with exasperation clear on his face.

"By the way please don't ever try and speak French again, you would be deeply insulting them if they ever heard what just came out of your mouth!" I added quietly with a smirk and made to walk past him when he grabbed my wrist lightly, stopping me in my tracks. I looked up into his deep brown eyes with a glare and released my wrist from his light grip.

"Well someone has a smart mouth," He said snarkily.

"can you at least help me out a bit? I lost my leg bag on the jump along with my map." He continued before I could retort. I huff and look away from him for a few seconds. Maybe If I help him and lead him in the right direction he could finally leave me alone. I also didn't fancy wandering around Normandy in the dark with American and German soldiers everywhere, by myself. All I know is that the American's don't know who I really am but most of the Germans do so maybe sticking with the Americans are my best shot. I need to stay under the radar and this American soldier could help me do that.

"Fine, where are you meant to meet up with the others?" I ask after a while of thinking my options through.

"Sainte Marie-Du-Mont" He replied quickly, looking anxiously around for any sign of which direction to head towards.

"This way," I pointed towards a thinning section of trees and started in that direction without turning around to check if the soldier was following me or not. The soldier appeared by my side a few seconds later.

"I thought you didn't know your way around here," He snarked as he kept up with my fast but cautious pace.

"I don't, but I know where I came from and I know which direction is the general area towards Marie-du-Mont." I retorted back as I quickened my pace, the sooner I get rid of the annoying soldier and into the relatively safe American zone, the better.

"Maybe I should walk in front, don't want you to get hurt and I have a weapon to defend us." the soldier said from behind me in a condescending tone as I'm keeping a fast pace and the man is lightly panting. I turn around to give the cocky aggravating man a piece of my mind when I hear faint voices not too far away from where we are standing. I raise a single finger to my lips to convey to him to keep his trap shut and then place my hand to my ear so hopefully he understands that I want him to listen.

I see that his eyes widen slightly when he hears the faint voices too. They are however unfortunately too quiet to make out if they are in German or English. The American steps close to me and leans his head down so his lips are nearly touching my ear and whispers for me to stay here while he scouts ahead. I roll my eyes at his sudden retreating figure and decide to follow quietly behind at an angle so I'm not directly behind him and I can see what's ahead clearer. The soldiers figure drops to a crouch and I copy as the voices are much closer and clearer now, and distinctly German. I drop to my hands and knees as I try to get closer to the voices, I don't know why I don't just run in the opposite direction but I feel like I can't leave the soldier who I reluctantly admit saved me tonight. I cautiously peer through a gap in a bush to see 3 dark figures crouched together in a ditch with a faint light muzzled through a piece of fabric. I glance to my right to see another dark figure which must be the American, watch the 3 German soldiers. I see him fiddle with his rifle in anticipation and I frown at the clearly not experienced soldier. I take the luger out of my thigh holster and check how much ammo I have in case things go south. 3 bullets. 3 German soldiers. I suppress a curse at my situation. I only have one chance and I am not relying on the American to save me this time.

Anti-aircraft fire is still going off in the distance and the Germans are suddenly distracted by a plane falling out of the sky on fire near where we are. The figure of the American soldier starts to stand up, take aim and fire. Nothing happens. His rifle has jammed and the Germans have now noticed the dark silhouette of a man by a set of bushes.

Unable to suppress my curses any longer, I stand to get a better look at the soldiers and their heads turn to see my feminine figure through the darkness and they hesitate. That hesitation was all I need to allow me to bring the arm with the luger up to aim quickly and fire 3 continuous shots in quick succession into each Germans head. The arm with the luger in drops to my side as I walk over to the recent bodies, checking for signs of any of them surviving.

I look up when I hear the sound of footsteps approaching from my right and makes eye contact with the American. I could see his face much clearer now in the approaching daylight, he is quite a handsome man with full pink lips, a largish nose that doesn't take away any of his handsome features but blends in well with the strong jaw he has and the deep brown eyes that captivate me. His face reads shock and suspicion and I sigh as I believe my cover to be blown.

"We are even now, you saved me and now I've saved you." I exclaim to break the silence between us. The soldier is still looking suspiciously at me and reaches a hand up to run through his chocolate brown waves.

"Yeah thanks I guess," He says a bit reluctantly but I can hear the sincerity faintly too.

"Although that doesn't explain you cursing in German or you knowing how to handle a gun with good accuracy." He retorts with narrowed eyes at me.

"I'm Austrian not German and my father taught me... so did my brother." I replied half truthfully. I came up with the cover story of me being Austrian as we walked through the woods earlier. Thinking of my brother brought a throbbing pain through my chest but I battered down the painful emotions as I try to push it out of my mind. The soldier's eyes widened with still some suspicion but appeared more friendly than they have before.

"I don't think we've introduced ourselves, I'm Joe. Joe Liebgott." Joe said with a raise of his hand for me to presumably shake, I hesitate for a split second before slipping my hand into his.

"Emelie Heidemann."


End file.
